#25 - Must Be True, Purpose

[Administrator]

Question Line Reference

The correct answer choice is (D)

The justification for the correct answer can be found on:

(lines 9-12)

The author is critical of the scientists mentioned in the first paragraph, stating that their assumptions have obscured the truth about wine.

[cleocleozuo]

I have a question about choice E. When I was solving this question, I quickly eliminated A to C. I thought the tone of the author is more than just being "critical" and involves emotions because he sees to criticize most scientists "not only make no distinction among wine, beer.... but also study the excessive intake of this beverage". To me, those remarks show some of the author's emotions and suggest that he dislikes those arguments very much. So I chose E instead... Could someone explain how should I judge the degree of disagreement correctly in reading comp?

Many thanks!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi cleocleozuo!

In general with these Author's Attitude questions, you want to steer clear of answer choices that describe extreme tones, as LSAT authors almost never write with extreme emotion in any direction. Here, "clearly outraged" is too strong to describe the author's tone. The author suggests that they were wrong but does not say anything like "they are horrible people who have done the world a grave injustice in obscuring the benefits of wine! They should all be fired!" etc. An author who is "clearly outraged" would have to be obviously expressing extreme anger toward the scientists, not merely suggesting that they made an incorrect assumption which has obscured potential health benefits of wine.

As you said, he is "criticizing" the scientists in the first paragraph--which is why an answer choice saying that he is "critical" is a perfect fit!

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey